Real Life Wednesday: What’s Your Passion?
Want to know something wild?
These Wednesday posts. When I share whatever I feel and write about things I do and love, whether it’s important or dumb, the minute I go to hit publish? EXTREME ANXIETY. Like wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night anxiety.
Like, anxiety that necessitates texting a friend and needing reassurance. Anxiety that has me telling Eddie before he walks out the door that “there is no way I’m posting this!” because I just feel… weird.
The truth is that they make me feel super uncomfortable, open, vulnerable and exposed. Like, hey! Hit me! I’m telling you even more about alllll the things in my life.
But. It’s forcing me to go outside of my comfort zone. I am loving the feeling of feeling uncomfortable, except I also sort of hate it. A lot. Then I wonder how I can grow (as a person, as a writer, as a freak) if I am not forcing myself to do things that make me feel uneasy. This is one way. Even though it makes me want to punch myself in the face at the same time.
I’ve found that this is where I can write whatever junk I want to write about, the things I am crazy passionate about – other than food but still sometimes about food that I might not make. More about life and less about omgs and imobsessed and I made this pizza and you have to try it before I lose my mind. You know?
I’ve been passionate about writing for almost my entire life, though it’s gone in and out. I’ve talked about this to death but what I was a kid, I’d spend hours writing “stories” in notebooks – basically my versions of Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High. I would get so wrapped up in those stories and my own that I’d have a tough time focusing on real life. (Obvi not much has changed.)
When I was in sixth grade, I’d sit in front of the computer (which was pretty new at the time) and type up little poems and stories about love and heartbreak, because apparently at the age of eleven I was heartbroken.
It wasn’t a major loss. Trust me. I don’t even think my mom was freaked out by my weird writings. I think I was just pretending to be a tortured artist.
I journaled often – um, my favorite entries are the ones when I was clearly angry and ripped open a page and wrote mean things about my brothers. It was so hilarious but so drives home the point that I physically CAN’T get things out of my mind/heart unless I write them down. Happy or sad. Angry or elated. You know the drill.
It’s not like I write any great literary works of art and I sure could benefit from a good long sesh with a thesaurus and probably even a dictionary. But that’s not the point.
I don’t even know if I can’t explain how I feel about writing. Writing notes, writing my thoughts, writing stories, writing daily ramblings to invisible internet friends – all of it. It stirs something up inside me but makes me feel at home at the same time. I feel physically full when I can’t write. My head isn’t clear, I’m generally overwhelmed and to be oh so completely cliché, I don’t feel complete! For real.
I want to say something here a la Ryan Gosling in The Notebook and how it awakens my soul but that would be taking it too far. Maybe. But it’s true! Exclamation points and all.
Towards the end of high school and all through college, I pretty much ditched writing. Like, writing anything. I obviously had to write papers (which was something I never minded) but for enjoyment or release or therapy or growth… it wasn’t happening. Being (or wanting to be) social took over. Before I went to college, my parents tried to get me to major in English or some form of creative writing to which I would (literally) scream WHAT!! THAT IS SO BORING! THAT’S NOT ME! And that was that. I wasn’t interested.
When I first started my blog, it was like… lightbulb. Hello, brightest lightbulb ever. A few weeks in I went over to my parents’ house, sat in the kitchen and bawled like a freaking baby. Like ugly cry, can’t breath cry, hiccup cry. I was wailing I JUST LOVE WRITING SO MUCH! And all I was doing was talking about recipes. But it was enough for me.
I know. So dramatic. I think that comes with the passion thing.
I take passion to another level… except for the things I don’t care about. Then I’m apathetic. Basically, I’m passionate to a fault.
So me.
{I can’t find the original source of this photo – if you know it, please share.}
I’m rambling on about all of this today because I’m so curious. What are you passionate about? I will admit that I am such a passion-driven person (read: not rationally driven, hint hint) that I have a difficult time understanding when others aren’t passionate. I mean, doesn’t everyone have to be head over heels about something?!?! I think it makes living, like… worth it. It’s what makes me work really hard every day.
As invisible internet BFFs, I’m kind of dying to know what makes you tick. What makes you wake up in the morning or what is it that you HOPE to wake up in the morning for one day?
If I am not doing something I’m passionate about, it eats me alive from inside. Lots of people don’t understand. I’m paralyzed if I’m not following it. Okay well. I don’t mean like in a Hannah-from-GIRLS type of way. But you know. Do I make sense? Probably not. Hey! Maybe next week I’ll not write ten thousand words. Something I am not passionate about: expressing myself in a few sentences.
152 Comments on “Real Life Wednesday: What’s Your Passion?”
I love this so much, the honesty of it. Especially this like, ” I feel physically full when I can’t write.” That’s beautiful, Jess! I’m trying to find something I’m that passionate about. I’m in grad school and it’s really taking a toll. What I thought I wanted to do going in… well, I don’t think I want that anymore. When I think about what would truly make me happy, it’s what you do. Blog about my life, my food, my workouts. So what have I done recently? Started blogging. For no one but myself. And I love it!
Trying to find happiness and passion, one day at a time.
Thanks for sharing your life with us.
You are just plain awesome! Love that you are passionate about everything you are passionate about because I love to read all about it!
LOVE this post! Not only because it is very open but also because we share so many similarities. I “Dear Diary”ed” my entire childhood. I wrote love notes to my future husband. I basically wrote down whatever was on my mind like it was my job. And then I lost my passion for it all when I got to HS because that’s when the structure kicked in. Blogging has definitely put the fun back in writing because now it’s on my terms. While I’m not so lucky to call writing or my blog my job, I am happy to say it’s a hobby I’m truly passionate about (although sometimes it feels like a job!).
Thanks for this post! It definitely put a smile on my face. :)
I’m obsessed with old things and handmade things. Mostly old furniture, but really anything with a history. I want to know who made it and when and why and who owned it and where did it come from. I probably should have majored in art history, but I thought it wasn’t practical so instead I majored in international law and now the things I like writing best are art history things. So yeah, maybe art history would have been more practical after all.
I kinda love these posts. They make me like you better. Not that I didn’t like you before. It’s just that they’re so real, you know? I mean, most of the time you’re like happyicecreambaconsprinklesOMG which is fun but it’s also nice to see that you’re all sweet and vulnerable under that sometimes. I think the reason people love your blog so much is your writing voice, you know? So it makes sense that you see yourself as a writer. So yeah. Don’t worry. We like you.
i love that you love those things. i wish i had a better eye for them!
Great post! Wanna hear the weird thing that I’m passionate about? Teaching Calculus. Seriously. LOVE it. Gets me all excited and puts me in my happy place. My students think I’m Crazy (with a capital C) for being so excited to teach math but I think they secretly like seeing me make a fool out of myself.
this.is.amazing.
it actually thrills me that there are people who are passionate about calculus. i am terrible at math and can’t fathom it. i so admire you.
I totally applaud how much openly, freely, and just with total honesty you share. It’s amazing and I would love to be able to do that one day….you are so brave. Seriously! It’s a big, bad, bold world out there and you’re just letting it all hang out and that’s not something that’s easy. Kudos!
I’d love to see something similar from you Averie!
I love all your posts, and these ones from the heart (though they all are, I know) are especially awesome.
I too love writing, though I am kind of stuck in the ‘off’ position for now (I will find my muse again, I will!), baking is my passion for sure, and my tv shows I am particulaly enthusiastic about to the point that people give me that sympathetic look like they have no idea what I am babbling about but it makes me happy so its okay! I too, can’t imagine what it’s like to not be passionate about *something*.
This post speaks to me, and I totally relate to that picture of ‘Utterly obsessed’/’uninterested’ too :)
Just to make you comfortable, I’ll tell you what i’m passionate about ,but feel everyone will laugh at me when I put it in words……….Antique laces and crochet. There I said it!
The idea that some sat for days and made the most intricate and beautiful delicate designs,people ,animals ,scenes. Tablecloth’s,napkins & place mats .
And I’m not talking about the craft fair stuff,I’m talking about 0VER 100 years old stuff.
Such detail………See i’m obsessed.I guess that’s why I buy and sell so much!
alicia! no reason to laugh – passion is passion. i love this!
Your passion is contagious. I went to sleep last night eagerly awaiting your real life Wednesday post, so please don’t stop! Even though it makes you uncomfortable, when you’re being real and open, good things happen! Yeah, maybe you piss a few people off, but that’s the deal with passion: when you have it, you HAVE TO express it.
It drives me crazy when people don’t have a passion. They get up everyday, go to work, and do what? Count the minutes? What is life for otherwise?!
It took blogging for me to uncover my new career as a private chef. I have never been happier, and I can’t imagine my life without it. So, I’m just going to get honest here: I can be a complainer. I can be a negative. It’s something I struggle with daily. But, the one thing I NEVER complain about is cooking. My husband knows this is my passion because I could spend all day working outside in the field doing back-breaking labor, but I will still pop into the kitchen to cook at night with new-found energy and unparalleled enthusiasm. THAT is how you know you’re passionate about something. I never lose my drive. I’m never tired of cooking. I never run out of ideas.
Can we eat pizza and milkshakes together one day, please? :)
i am thrilled for you! :)
I’ve been an avid reader for foreverrrrr now, but I’ve never commented before. Mostly because I am shy when it comes to commenting on blogs and I am so obsessed with your blog I never wanted to make a fool of myself! But, I just had to say how much I LOVE your Wednesday posts. I look forward to them every week, I just love your honesty and openness.
I feel as though I am passionate about several different things – learning about the body and using that knowledge to help people ( I’m a massage therapist studying to be a physical therapist), TV SHOWS, and my horses are my top three. I’m kind of at a point in my life where I’m trying to figure out what exactly I am most passionate about, and where it’s going to take me! Could I be anymore of a 20something cliche right now?
Anyway, THANK YOU for writing posts like these, they make my day :)
thank you so much for commenting – it seriously means a lot! thank you, thank you, thank you.
This post of course couldn’t come at a better time. In the spirit of being brutally honest and not wanting to his “Submit Comment,” I spent my entire lunch hour yesterday on the second floor of Oxford Center on the phone with my husband who was driving to Erie for court crying – like bawling – about how I have lost my passion and motivation to write. I think that a lot of it for me has to do with working in a job where i don’t feel useful and I don’t feel passionate, and desperately WANTING to write or do something with food and culture and sustainability, but I haven’t found “it” yet. I’m exhausted from just graduating with a Masters degree in Food Studies, yet being in a job all day where I literally do nothing (and unrelated to the field I’d rather be in). I have the structure of a blog started (not published yet), but I’m not feeling inspired right now. He told me that I’ll get my muse back and that I have to take it one day at a time. I know he’s right.
So, writing is and always has been a passion. Cooking and, surprisingly, baking, have become passions later in life. Travel is my other. I LOVE seeing new cultures, seeing how others live and immersing myself in their day-to-day, rather than my own, looking around at new cities with awe and, in a way, through childlike eyes. If I could do only one thing for the rest of my life, I would travel.
i am so glad you hit submit comment. i have been there, bawling to my husband because i didn’t know what else to do, and it sucks. in my desk job i barely had anything to do and it was terrible, but lead me to starting a blog. you will get your muse back, i am sure of it! email me if you want to chat about it!!
I’m passionate about writing poetry, and also painting which I’m afraid to do (!)…and I completely relate to the anxiety you feel when you hit the “post” button. I experience this every time. I enjoyed your honesty – thanks for sharing your thoughts!
From the way you describe it, it’s easy to say we both have the same passion for writing. I too was that quiet sixth grader sitting in a corner with a notebook when everyone else was playing. Although growing up in the Bronx, the things getting spewed in the notebooks were raps (haha, sounds ridiculous). But raps seemingly overnight turned into poetry once I discovered Boyz II Men. Like, beautiful poetry that got me noticed by national contests – but never the girl I wrote it for.
Anyway, that’s a whole other road. Point is, I feel ya. Some people can’t write their feelings down if you offered them a million dollars. Others can’t do anything less and they’re barely living check to check. Thanks for reassuring that I did good by starting a blog. Because I never thought of this as an extension of what I used to do before life started getting complicated.
As far as these posts go – this is the first I read where you’re putting yourself out there (I just got back into the blogging scene yesterday). What you said about writing stuff other than food.. That’s exactly where I was at. I stopped blogging in October because I just didn’t feel like doing the food thing anymore. And my blog, even though I wanted it to be more than food, turned into nothing but food and I couldn’t hit reverse. But boy did I! Redesigned it with a new direction and launched it yesterday. Feels freaking great and I can’t wait to get it going again – food and all!
tl;dr – who cares? Put yourself out there and write what makes you happy, what gives you peace in your mind. Your followers care about who you are and what you have to say, not just the food you taunt them with. Not many blogs can say that.
I am passionate about animal welfare, so I volunteer at rescue organizations and try to donate as often as possible. I am currently trying to figure out how to make a career out of it (dream job being in house counsel at the ASPCA or something), but it definitely gives me a purpose! Thanks for sharing your passion, I love the wednesday posts!
Really loved this post. I’m new to the blogging world but already feel passionate about it – I HAVE to do it and I HAVE to do it well – I’m obviously not there yet, being new and all I have an awful lot to learn but I am determined. At the moment I feel like you in that i hesitate when hitting ‘publish’ on each and every one of my posts. Not only am I scared of someone reading about me and my stuff (silly when you’re unleashing it on the ‘net eh!) but i kinda feel like who wants to read my nonsense. Still, here I am, doing something I never thought I would but loving every second of it so far. Long may this comfortable uncomfortableness continue.
I am passionate about food, which is why I made it my career, as a private chef. I love to learn about food, I spend hours a day sifting through recipes for inspiration, which is why I frequent your site so often! Your ideas are brilliant and unique, keep it up!
LOVE this post! And love that you WRITE here about food and MORE. :-) I have started/stopped blogging over the years bc I get hit with fear. So grateful to have wrestled that to the ground and to now be comfortable in my (blogging/writing) skin.
Ahhh! Everything you said I was nodding in agreement! I was the exact same- except my chosen topic was horses rather than heartbreak! So funny, because I majored in English yet we overanaylsed texts to the point of ridiculousness I stopped writing.
I started a new notebook back in July and am almost finished it… Even though my last notebook took me three years to finish!
I guess life comes and goes in cycles! Great post, as I found it hard to tell people why I wasn’t writing anything at times when I wasn’t interested!
Hi! So I’ve been reading your blog for a while (yearssss), and I love it. It’s inspiring, fun, and for me, real. But I shall get on topic and say I love this post. Just yesterday I think I finally scared my parents enough through my cliche quotes of passion and doing what I love, to make them believe that I was serious about starting my own business… I never want to work a day in my life (I know you have said that recently through your posts), and I have been looking for that office-9-5 lets-be-professional job. Horrible. I don’t believe you can do anything and feel complete if it’s not something you truly believe in. I am trying to become a health coach, which is not a well known thriving kind of career. But I don’t care. I want to talk about healthy foods! juices! Yoga! and amazing yummy things that have real ingredients and love! I want to make this world love nature again. I want people to show love again, and for me, that is through food. So yes, I’ve cried about my passions (mostly to my parents) because it fills me up enough where I really do burst. I love your writing. Your passions. Because in the end, I think thats what most of us really need, passion. Thank you for this. This was kind of the reassurance I needed.
ps. I’m not a great writer… yet ;) English was never my thang.
this is so exciting!! keep me posted on how it goes!!
Long time reader but this may be my first comment. I just love your blog, your recipes, your honesty.
I am passionate about writing for kids. It’s always been there, and I ignored it for so long. I mean, I still have my copy of Charlotte’s Web along with a few Nancy Drews and all the Young Author books I wrote in elementary school. My head finally caught up with my heart, and I’ve been actively working on my writing. It makes me feel at home and alive, and I’m so excited about the process.
thank you for commenting. feeling alive a perfect way to describe it.
Totally understand this, to a fault. If I am not passionate about what I’m doing, yep, apathetic best describes my response. Now, can you tell me why growth and chasing your dreams can be so dang painful?! I am incredibly passionate about design, just LOVE IT. We can talk package and logo design, visual merchandising, apparel design, COLORS, OMG – I freaking LOVE COLOR!!!!!!!!!! If I were a science nut I would get my masters in color theory, but alas, the science and math is just not me… crickets in my head.
LOVE your Wednesday posts, like totally… OBSESSED!
it is painful, agreed. but i think it’s worth it? I HOPE.
I am so loving your Wed. posts! I look forward to them every week! I am passionate about food, my family, exercise, finding joy, and lately Nashville. I am hooked and can’t stop watching. I need to be more passionate about sleep so I will go to bed instead of watching another episode:) xo
I love this post and I can totally relate — although not about loving to write. I started my blog/health coaching biz because I wanted to share my passion for health, wellness, cooking and helping others. Writing is just something that comes along with it. I feel like it takes me forever to write posts because writing isn’t necessarily my strong suit. It’s something I have to practice!
Thanks for opening up and sharing so much with your readers. I know takes a lot of courage and it’s one of the reasons I love reading your blog. <3
Also, "Change is uncomfortable" is my motto for 2014 — for everything in life, especially spin classes when my legs are burning and my butt is sore from the stupid bike seat. :)
that motto is WONDERFUL. xoxo
I love these posts and this one in particular. I’m so like you in that I’m either passionate about something or ehhh and I don’t get people who don’t have any passion for anything. How do they live?!? At this point in my life, I’m passionate about being a wife and mother, raising my kids and making their childhoods amazing and full of memories. I feel like some people just “parent” because that’s what you have to do after you bring a child in the world but I want to PARENT!!!! like it’s the best gig ever (which it really is) and enjoy it and laugh a ton, teach them a lot, learn from them, make everything an event and experience things thru kid eyes again. Does this make me cliche and maybe lame and a feminist’s nightmare? Ehh probably. But I don’t care. That’s the beauty of being passionate about something! I’m passionate about other things in life too and have a similar approach to them, which is to say, ALL CAPS AND EXCLAIMATION POINTS! And that pretty much sums up “passionate”. :)
Jessica, I love love LOVE these posts. They inspire me (and often make me realize that I’m not the only person in the world who feels certain ways about things!) I’m completely obsessively passionate about writing. I had a notebook that I carried with me everywhere when I was 9 to write down things I saw (this is because I read Harriet the Spy and got a bit too obsessed, but that’s another story.) I wanted to major in journalism in college, but didn’t because I didn’t think I was competitive enough to “make it.” I started my blog as a way to write, and (besides giving me an excuse to eat a lot of yummy food), it is still my favorite part of the gig. Thanks for sharing your passions with all of us!
My other passions tend to be more along the lines of “I have to have to have to eat this every meal or I might die.” Current fixations: overnight oats (so last year); dried plums (a.k.a. prunes. Is that embarrassing?); brussels sprouts (forever love.)
The end!
Thank you for this! It’s beautiful. I agree with you about the sort of momentary crippling self doubt before posting on my blog. I think my passion might be finding things that I’m passionate about. Food and travel and people and all of that. I’m passionate about constantly moving and being uncomfortable.
Up until two years ago, I was one of those people without a passion. Then I had a baby and quit my job. I learned how to sew and it became my escape from the boredom of laundry and dishes. I finally learned what it was like to be passionate about something.
So I don’t think people set out to be un-passionate…I think that for some people there may be only one thing that gets them going (for example, I hate sewing anything other than clothing). And until you have the freedom–and the luck–to find your “thing” then you just won’t understand it.
i agree with this – my husband was one of those people. only recently did he realize his passion!
Love these posts. Love all of your posts. Always funny, witty and so similar to me! lol…OK, I lived for my Babystitters Club series (remember the specials and super specials when they went on a cruise?) and Sweet Valley – I actually liked the Sweet Valley Twins series….I am passionate about running, dessert, peanut butter and writing, of course.
I live in Cincinnati and my office looks out at the Proctor & Gamble headquarters. Yesterday, 9 activists from GreenPeace scaled these 20 story high towers to unfurl banners talking about how some of P&G’s practices are destroying the rain forest. Now, it was a crazy stunt and everyone was arrested, but it got me thinking last night. Wouldn’t it just be neat to have something that you are so passionate about that you would do pretty much anything to get that message across? I don’t think I’ve quite found that yet, and I don’t think I will be climbing 20 story buildings to share my passion, but it certainly made me think about what drives me and the desire to find a moving force like that.
wow. that is pretty crazy and amazing.
Thank you so much for writing this! I’ve started calling that feeling a “vulnerability hangover.” I think I might have gotten it from Brene Brown. Anyway, I find that the posts that I feel most anxious about. (because I’ve poured my heart out in some way) are also the ones that I”m most proud of later. Once enough time has passed to soften the worry/anxiety, I become proud of my courage to write about it. My passions too are writing, cooking and feeding people. Thanks for being an inspiration! :)
This was the best! Your passion is contagious and that is a wonderful thing!
What am I passionate about…well it can be summed up like this: graduate school has gone and taken a real toll on my ability to form happy thoughts without the onslaught of crippling guilt. I love what I’m going to school for, truly (MS Historic Preservation), but now, towards the end, when I catch myself thinking of things other than my thesis, I feel absolutely horrible, which is sad! However, for Christmas, my boyfriend gave my a 4 week oil painting class at a local art center and it has totally changed my world. Taking three hours a week to sit down and paint has…awakened my spirit? Ahhhaha yup, that corny. I’ve always *liked* painting, but turns out i *LOVE* painting and I’m surprisingly good!
So what it boils down to is, I just like being hands-on creative, in any stinkin way. I’m the person who will cut up a piece of paper into a zillion and a half tiny pieces just because there is a pair of scissors sitting in front of me. I love the act of cooking and baking because I see it as just another creative challenge. So whether my future takes me to a place of furniture/building restoration, or somewhere else along those lines, as long as I get to use these lil hand puppies of mine mixed with a dash of creativity, I’ll be happy :-)
“If I am not doing something I’m passionate about, it eats me alive from inside.”
Yes, this.
I find my passions ever-shifting and that’s ok. The point is not settling for the dumb stuff, but always reaching for the stuff that makes me feel alive.
This post is one of the most delicious things I have read on your blog. It’s inspiring to see someone spill their guts so openly about their love for something. Don’t ever lose that ability to give. You began this post by mentioning fear. I’ve always been a big fan of the quote “Do one thing each day that scares you.” I’m a big chicken. I scare easy. I literally left my house crying this morning over nerves I had about doing a food segment on the morning news in small-town Kansas. (P.S. I was on at 8:45 – when everyone is at work and literally no one is watching – STILL. PANIC!) Reading your post when I got home was like a big warm hug that said “We all have our own battles.” Thank you for that. I think the people who are as passionate and “obsessed” as you are, those are the people who are successful. The rest of us are trying to fit square pegs into round holes, we don’t know what we want. We know what we don’t want, but we haven’t found that one thing that keep us up at night ugly crying. You have it. Feed it daily. We’re all cheering you on!
Okay – I totally related to this post. I love writing. Yet, I’m in that same time zone you talked about where I don’t write. I often ask myself what’s stopping me. Sure I have plenty of “excuses” – just graduated from college, working full time, got married this summer.. on and on. But writing brings me so much peace and happiness. (I’m a big journal writer – and I used to have a blog I wrote in every day!)
Basically, you inspired me to get back at it.
Emotional meltdown with sobbing due to feeling more complete – very likely.
:)
How are you always so relevant to me? Like, these Wednesday posts are things I contemplate regularly. I STILL think about your post on inspiration. So good.
I think it’s hard for me to identify my passion, which seems weird. I know I’m passionate about baking. And I think, in general, I’m passionate about “contained creativity,” if that makes sense. Things like recipes and color bookings (yes, I’m an adult) are so satisfying to me because I’m allowed the create and complete something but within certain limitations (which I need). Am I making sense? Probably not.
I meant “coloring books” not “color bookings” which are definitely not a thing.
I love these Wednesday post, please don’t ever quit them! They’re always inspiring, but today is especially inspiring. I think it can be so easy to look at other bloggers and just assume that they’re always writing with ease and confidence. I totally respect that you write so open and freely even though it’s scary. This was one of goals for the year….I have yet to do it once :( Every time I sit at the computer and start to write openly I get clammy and start breaking into a cold sweat, and once I freak out enough I delete my post. Anyway, you’ve made me think think about this in a new light…thank you!
This post is awesome, I’m right there with you on the journaling as a kid, and loving BSC and SVH books…seriously, I was addicted. I love these more personal posts and admire your bravery in putting things out there!
My passions include cooking, interior decorating, yoga and reading. Sadly, whenever anyone suggests I try to turn one of these things into a career I feel really bored and uninterested (the switch flips down!). I feel like that would take all the joy out of them for me. Not sure if that makes me weird, or maybe just lazy…hmm. I guess for now I’m happy working my stable office job, and wholeheartedly loving every minute I spend outside of work in one of these passions.
I had no idea what to major in when I was in college! I picked something at random and plowed through just to be done. I think I was one of those people who would have benefited from getting some real-world experience to cultivate passions before going to school. But I hate school so I would never want to go back now. Anyway…sorry for this rambling comment! :)
i think we are the same person. i also plowed through college just to be done. hate school and could never imagine going back!
I think that I am one of those people that you might not be able to understand. at almost 30 years old, I haven’t found anything that I can say that I am actually passionate about. My husband is like you and does not get it. The only thing close to passion that I’ve felt/found is traying new things to find a passion. I’ve tried sports, ice skating, knitting, coocking, blogging, reading, ballet, personal training, professional development, skiing (and more!) and still haven’t found a passion. I like to do many things….but if I was told I could never do any of those things again, I wouldn’t be crushed. Sometimes I feel like I’m not living life to the fullest or that I’m just floating in life, but when I feel that way I have hope that one day I might find my passon (or realize that it’s totally ok to not have a passon in life and that it doesn’t make me less of a person…just different).
trying new things can be a passion! but also, i wouldn’t be worried about that – my husband is 40 and just in the last year realized what he is super passionate about. and if you don’t, it totally is okay!
You never realize how easy it is to write about food and treats and drinks until you have to write about yourself! Holy nerve-wracking! But I’m sure glad you do…been loving these Wednesday posts and especially your passion in this one!
I have been following your blog for years now and your recipes rate up there at the top! I love your blog and writing. I really like this post about passion. I have several passions but am not very good at managing them. I just need to dive in deeper and make time for them. I wanted to write but never got passionate enough about it to get better. I even wrote a blog for a few years trying to improve my writing skills and it was very therapeutic, but after those years it became a chore so I stopped. So I’m sticking with my quilting/reading/baking/learning-about-history passions! I think that’s enough til the kids are gone.
I just have to say, even though you feel vulnerable and completely freaked out about posting these every week, I LOVE your Wednesday posts! You have been one of my favorite bloggers for a very long time now, and one of the main inspirations that got me started blogging. I love your passion and enthusiasm for so many things.
I completely agree with you, and can’t even fathom the concept of not having something that you are passionate about. What do those people do?? Just go to a job that hey hate and then come home and not be excited about ANYTHING?? That’s just craziness!! It took blogging for me to really find my true passion in food, cooking and writing. I don’t know what I would do with myself if I didn’t have those things.
THANK YOU!
I was there once. Filling little journals and diaries. I love to read, draw, paint, crochet, bake. But most of my passions had to take a back burner when I became a work-at-home mom to four boys. I still have a little notebook on my bedside table, but it doesn’t see a pen much unless something big happens. Babies. Moving. More babies. I have a lot of regret about the way I spent my twenty-something years. My first passion was my then-high school sweetheart, now husband of almost 12 years. He is the reason I get up in the morning. I really love to crochet, I even opened a Goodsmiths shop, but it just sits there. No one cares about my little corner. But it’s my little corner of happy so I’m okay with that. I have no family close by, very few friends. My days are filled with what everybody else needs me to do for them. My dream is to have a garden, chickens, a couple of horses and spend my days crocheting and crafting goodies to sell. Maybe then I could be passionate.
God, I wish I was this passionate about something! I am starting to learn what I really like doing and what I’m good at, but I haven’t found one thing that I can’t eat/sleep/breathe without. I read once that whatever you do when you are procrastinating is what you should be doing with your life – but I don’t think that taking Buzzfeed quizzes is a lucrative profession, so we’ll see.
i so wish it was.
I love love LOVE these posts! Please keep them up! Your passion and ambition is really inspiring, as is your honesty and openness. Those food blogs that just write about food? I literally just look at the photos. Your blog? I read every single word. That’s gotta tell you something!
Alright now to answer your question: There are a lot of things I like but I haven’t found any passions yet. I used to be REALLY into snowboarding but that was ten years ago and sadly I haven’t found anything since then. It’s been my goal for the last year+ to figure out what I’m good at (I’m one of those jack of all trades/master of none kinda people) and it’s really frustrating. You have clarity and that’s a huge bonus. Plus you have a bazillion fans!
Also, Marie Forleo on fear vs intuition: http://www.marieforleo.com/2011/08/fear-intuition-difference/ That one video of hers made a huge difference for me. (Plus, isn’t she awesome and adorable and hilarious?!)
thank you for this!!
I love your new obsession of LePens because I’ve been obsessed for years with them. Oriental Blue! LOVE!!! That photo is so awesome.
Reading is my ultimate passion. i think i would actually die if I didn’t read. I was an English major in college, and totally loved it. I loved reading everything and I loved writing about what i read(though I was never into writing like you are). I always wanted to work in a library, and the journey terrifies me. But whenever I read about when you started your blog and quit your ‘regular’ job, it inspires me to go for my dream. I absolutely adore what you have to say, some of it really hits home to me. Thank you so much for being you!
Your ramblings = my inspiration. My inspiration to find what makes me feel so passionate and follow it fully with my heart.
I love that you’re passionate about writing and vulnerable enough to share that with the world! I’m having a hard time figuring out what I’m passionate about. I want to say it’s art, but not in the classic painting/drawing sense. I love finding art in writing, photography, fashion, and more. I think one of my biggest problems if not having enough time in my day to find and express my passion. I find myself writing books in my head and never having time to write them down. Maybe I need to start carrying one of those little pocket tape recorders (OMG is that just my cell phone now?!). I also considered being an English major in college but passed on it because I would have had to take foreign language classes and, crap, who has time for that?! I’m terribly American.
i wish those little pocket tape recorders were still in style. my dad used one for work and i was obsessed.
I hate when I find myself without something to be passionate about. I feel empty and completely void of any interesting thoughts. Thankfully, I’ve only come upon a handful of periods in my life (so far) where I spend several months feeling inexplicably… shallow. As if there is nothing more to me than what you see outside. Ugh, it’s a terrible feeling. But then the rest of the time it’s just as you described, whatever I’m doing just makes Life. Worth. Living. I’ll do anything with my hands, draw, paint, sculpt, write, etc. My workdays are mainly filled with planning what I’m going to create once I get home. Yesterday, I reupholstered the seats on our dated dining chairs and started to work on a papier-mache stag head that I’ve been OBSESSING over lately. It’s mega cathartic being able to get some of the ideas out of my head. I simply do not understand how there can be people who aren’t passionate. It boggles my mind.
I love your freaky, curious, passionated you!
My biggest passion at the moment is food, and it has been for quite a while. So I started a blog, just because… Actually it was because I couldn’t sleep, because of all the thought spinning around in my head, and i just sort of had to get rid of them. But I didn’t want to write it down in a diary. And so my blog became a thing, and is now also one of my greatest passions!
Love,
Nadja
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